Monday, August 4, 2008

Hangin' with Bob, Hanoi

Wandering around the streets of Hanoi, the little hole-in-the-wall coffee shops are incredible. The mornings see them packed with locals, picking up a coffee where you will also close-by see a lady with a basket piled with fresh, crusty bread rolls. And there you have Hanoi's staple breakfast!

Of the transparent boxes piled high with different coffee's the one that caught both our attention was the "Weasel Coffee", so nicely advertised with an illustration of a weasel appropriately shooting coffee beans out it's butt. It is in fact Vietnam's version of the much famed Indonesian Kopi Luwak.

Conveniently located one street over from where we were staying, was Cafe Hue. Here we would stop each morning for a glass of iced-coffee weasel. A super strong shot is poured over ice with a good splash of condensed milk and a touch of sugar syrup and shaken vigorously. The result - a super smooth, slightly sweet, creamy and frothy slap-you-in-the-face wake up drink!

Each morning, and even the occasional afternoon, we would sit on these minuscule little chairs at the one minuscule little table at the front of Cafe Hue.

We quickly made friends with their lovely little dog, Bob, who was a Beijing Pekingese and was so very cute and, if not sleeping, always very friendly...

We also became friends with the whole family that worked there .. using this as a stop for the beginning of each day. It's here we would discuss our days plans, them surprised with our gastronomic adventures each day. On several occasions it was here we got great advice and even hand written notes, maps and directions as to where we must go.... Our last visit there to say goodbye, they were so busy packing big boxes with bags of coffee we didn't really get time to talk... One of the young guys came over to apologise for not having much time, as they had this massive order they had to get off to Singapore this morning. Awesome! So you can order and they will ship the coffee almost anywhere .....

One day when we stay put for a while and we need some coffee, we'll be hitting them up ...

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These days you can get on a bus, boat or plane and within hours or even minutes you can be in a new country.. but even as the world gets smaller the food still stands to let you know you've arrived a world away..